Packing or shipping box.



E. C. POTTER.

PACKING 0R SHIPPING BOX.

APPLICATION FILED Oct. 4. 1913.

11116111611 July 13, 1915.

2 SHEETISSHEET 1.

WIZTIQSQEJ V pZWK/Cflfr Mam #21 0. mm diam @WMMW JQLMkw M ,fl/gt -E. c. POTTER.

PACKING 0R SHIPPING BOX. APPLICATION FILED OCT- 14. 191 3.

Patented July 13, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

macaw.

' raa one EARL G. POTTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE SEFTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

rAcKIuo on SHIPPING BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Applicationfiled October 4, 1913. Serial No. 793,370.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL C. POTTER, a citizen of the United States,-residing at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Packing or Shipping Boxes, of which th following is a specification.

My invention relates to packing or shipping boxes of the collapsible or knock-down type and made of suitable material preferably double-faced corrugatedpaper board, and the object thereof is to produce a box so constructed and arranged that when closed it shall become locked and sealed by such act of closing the box.

One of the objections made by'transportation companiestothe use of folding paper boxes, even boxes madeof corrugated paper board, is that they may beopened and pilfered from and then closed and sealed in such a manner as to cover up all appearances of the unlawful opening. In constructing my present box I have overcome this objection by constructing the box in such manner that after it is closed and locked it cannot be opened without destruction of the box itself or without damage or injury thereto in such manner as to plainly indicate that it had been tampered with.

In the figures Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank from which the body of a box embodying myinvention is formed; Fig. 2 a top plan view of the box body; Fig. 3' a longitudinal section on a larger scale of the entire box including box top and cover closed and locked; Fig. i a plan view of a blank from which the other section or cover of the box is formed; Fig. 5 a sectional ele-' ration on the line 55 of Fig. 6 of the cover in assembling form; Fig. 6 a cross section on the line 66 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 a section on the irregular line 7-7 of Fig. 5, and Fig. 8 an elevation with a portion broken away showing the box body cover about to be telescoped.

Referring to the present embodiment of my invention as herein shown, the box comprises two parts or sections telescoping one within the other, one of which we will hereinafter for convenience term the box body and the other the cover, although it will be understood that the same might be reversed. By preference the section which I term the body of the box is the one which is'filled with the goods and the other which Item the cover is the one which is forced downwardly over the body of the box.

The body of the box is formed from the blank shown in'Fig. 1, the material preferably being double-faced corrugated paper board. This blank by suitable cuts and score lines is divided into the bottom 1, and the two opposite pairs of side walls 2 and 3 which preferably have opposite flaps l. The side walls 2 are provided with short flaps 2 hinged to their outer edges and the side walls 3 are provided with similar, but in the present instance, shorter flaps 3* hinged to the outer edges of such side walls 3. The opposite free ends of the side walls 2 are separated from the flaps 4 by the cuts 43.

In assembling the body of the box the side walls are folded along their hinge lines on the bottom and the flaps i are turned inwardly against the inner faces of the side walls 2 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. These flaps are held in this position and consequently the box body is held in assembled condition by suitable means although I prefer in the interests of economy and efficiency the two prong staples 5 engaging the flaps 4 and their side walls 2. These staples are made and used substantially as shown in Ferres Patent No. 869,833 dated October 29,

1907. In the assembling of the box the flaps 2 and 3 extend outwardly but when the box is closed they are downwardly turned or pressed against the outer faces of the side walls in the manner hereinafter explained.

Referring first to the construction of the box cover, the same is made from the blank shown in Fig. 4 which is also preferably of double-faced corrugated paper-board. This blank is cut and scored so as to divide the same into a top 6, two pairs of side walls 7 and 8 espectively, the former having end flaps 7 a and the latter having end flaps 8 and in addition lateral or corner flaps 9. These corner flaps '9 are separated from the end edges of the walls? by means of the cuts 10.

In assembling the box cover the side walls are folded above the cover along their score or hinge lines therewith and the corner flaps 9 are inturned and held against the inner faces of the side walls 7 in the same manner, that is by staples 5, as the box body. The

pairs of flaps 7 and 8 are now inwardly cover which of course is of slightly greater dimensions is placed over the body as seen in Fig. 8 and telescoped therewith. The flaps 2 and 3 of the box body have some resiliency and tend to press outwardly as seen in Fig. 8, with the result that as soon as the box cover is forced downwardly far enough so that the free edges of these flaps 2* and 3 clear the free endges of the flaps 7 and 8 of the box cover they will snap into place and engage such latter edges. As a result the two sections of the box are securely locked and sealed together as an incident to the act of closing the box and such box cannot be opened without practically destroying the same. The box is now in the condition illustrated in Fig. 3.

By the use of my invention I provide a box which becomes locked and sealed by the act of closing the same, with the ObVlOllS result that such locking is accomplished as an incident and without any skill on the part of the user. As a further result of the use of my box, the same cannot be tampered with or pilfered from inasmuch as any such attempt would be disclosed by the condition of the box which would require substantial defacing or destruction of the box before entrance could be obtained. It is intended that these boxes shall be for a single use only and the opening and consequent destruction having lateral or corner flaps lying against and secured to the inner faces of the other two opposite side walls, and a box cover including a top and side walls having inturned flaps of less height than their side walls, of these side walls two opposite walls having lateral or corner flaps corresponding to said first mentioned corner flaps of the box body and similarly secured to the inner facesof the other two opposite side walls of the cover, said cover being arranged to telescope over the body and the out-turned and inturned flaps being then adapted to engage to lock the box.

EARL C. POTTER. 

